Watershine and Sparkstrike 4
”It’s okay, Pigeonkit.” Fennelwing soothed. I rolled the dandelions in my paw and chewed them into a pulp. “This should help, does it sting?” “No... But the sting still hurts.” He whimpered quietly. I spat out the remaining leaves and spread some on my pad. “What are you doing Waterpaw?” “Nothing. I think I just stepped on a thorn.“ I explained to Pigeonkit what to do when the wound starts aching again. “...And I used dandelions because they’re extra gentle.” I looked down at Poppykit’s rosy head and speckled paws. “Thanks for telling me that he was hurt. If it gets pinker, that means it’s swelling. Come to me or Windsong if that happens.” “Sure! You’re the best, Waterpaw!” I could feel my ears blushing. “No problem.” “I thinks it’s time for us to get going.“ Windsong chipped in. “The hunting patrol just got back.” Thymekit zoomed around the den. “Hey Poppykit! Wanna play leaf-catcher with me?” She mewed. “Uh-Huh!” I walked out the den and sat down by the high-stone, where I sunk my teeth into a bleeding wood-mouse. “Sup!” Pumpkinpaw was skipping over to me, she was holding a scrawny wren. “Hi.” “How’s it going with Windsong? “Fine...” I replied when I swallowed. “But Pigeonkit got stung by a bee while sticking his face in a daisy.” “Ouch, I think I might of broke my claw while on border patrol.” “You should of told me!” I ran into the medicine den and came back out with some comfrey. “You chew it, then smear it on your paw.” She gulped down the wren and chewed the chunky root, then spat it on her claw. “What do I do with the rest?” I grabbed a piece of bark from the ground. “Put it on this. You should line it on your toe before you go to sleep tonight“ ”Uh-huh. Thanks. You seem really professional at this. Honestly! It’s pretty cool. It’s like you have way more experience then you trained for...” ”Two toms and two she-kits. Congratulations, Snowy Clouds!“ She licked each kit gently and raised her head to Jumping Frog. “What should we name them? The little dappled white-and-brown looks just like a lark I saw this morning. Singing Lark! That’s a wonderful name!” “Yeah. And the brown she-tabby reminds me of a flower... Wilted Rose. Is that good with you, Snowy Clouds?“ Jumping Frog meowed. Snowy Clouds nodded. Her white pelt and grey eyes sparkled in the moonlight. “Of course! Uh... The other she-kit is dark-brown with a chestnut underbelly. It reminds me of some sort of fish.“ “How about Leaping Trout!“ “Okay. And the last tom, how about you name him. Deep Water? I probably would of died with all these kits if it wasn’t for you!” Snowy Clouds purred. “Hm.“ The kit was a white tortoiseshell. His ears were curled, and his fluffy kit-fur was spiked out in all directions. “Twisted Oak.” “Fine then. Singing Lark, Wilted Rose, Leaping Trout, Twisted Oak, You are my precious kits- And I will always protect you.” Snowy Clouds mewed. Jumping Frog rested his tail on my shoulder.'' “Thank you.” '' He whispered, and we all talked under the stars. ”Waterpaw? Morningclan to Waterpaw!“ “Wha-What?” Pumpkinpaw was standing over me. Her calico feet padded the ground. “Did something happen?” I muttered, trying to get off the grass. “Yeah. Mid-conversation you just randomly passed out, I was about to get help, but then you started muttering something about kit names so I came back over, and you woke up.” I licked my whiskers and shook my head. “I’m probably just tired.” I blandly replied, and stumbled away. I could tell someone replaced my den. The moss smelled fresh, like tulips. I curled into a ball and started to doze off, when... Chapter Two ”Raid on the territorg” I heard Orangeleaf yowl, her bright orange coat was matted with blood. Squirrelstar came bursting out of the den, Thunderpelt on his tail. “What’s the status?” He demanded. Redfur ran up to his side. He was one of the cats on patrol. “Nightclan is attacking us, they were crossing fourtrees when we spotted them. It looked like they brought there entire clan!” That moment a few bushes trembled. Eaglestar emerged, with Violeteye’s glossy coat coming from behind the elders’ den. The leader opened his massive jaws to speak. “We came here not to fight, but simply to bring Spiderlimb and her her kin back to Nightclan.” My fur bristled. It was my decision if I wanted to stay or not! “Waterpaw,” Windsong brushed her tail along my spine to smooth my brown fur. She was watching Eaglestar’s movements, and did not look over to me. “Stay here. I’m going to make sure no one from the patrol’s hurt.” When she left I poked my head through the brambles. Eaglestar was growling, and Squirrelstar‘s ears were laid flat. A sign of aggression. “I’ll tell you one last time, we’ll discuss this at the gathering.” He mewed. Eaglestar took a step foward, and shook his head. “You had your chance, Squirrelstar. Nightclan,” He unsheathed his claws. “''ATTACK!” A senior Nightclan warrior, Nightslash, jumped on Brownpaw and started tearing at his fur. Lizardtail was clawed in the chest as Ashjaw yowled his battle cry, And Amberpaw was throwing herself at Stormpaw. I gasped, No! ''Please, don’t start a war over me, Starclan! ''I prayed in my head. Riverswirl grabbed my scruff and yanked me out of the ferns. ”In here!” She whispered. I was shoved into the nursery with Fennelwing’s kits. ''I shouldn’t be in here, I should be fighting alongside my brother! ''Poppykit ducked closer to me. “I don’t wanna die!” She whimpered. Thymekit and Pigeonkit were curled together in the back of the nursery, and Fennelwing licked their heads. I scooted Poppykit to her mother and looked into the battle. Sparkpaw was slashing at Foxear’s nose, and she jolted back as blood gushed from the wound. “Stupid half-clan!” She yowled. Thymekit and Poppykit started wailing as claws pierced through the bramble wall of the nursery. “Get back!” I screeched, a brown body landed on top of me. ''Swampsplash! He bit sharply down on my scruff and I clawed at his neck. “LET! ME! GO!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. Poppykit and Thymekit were crying to their mother and Pigeonkit was hiding in his den. I moved a little more out of the nursery. “So, you care about your new clanmates? How sweet!” He yowled sarcastically. I tried to bite his tail but he kicked my head, and I sliced across the smooth stone. I was now in the middle of the battle. Pumpkinpaw jumped over me as she pounced on Grasspaw, and Lemonpaw was hanging onto Orangefall. I tried to move, but other bodies were pressed and in battle around me. Help! ''I silently wailed. I saw Squirrelstar drag himself onto the highrock and lick the blood of his thigh. “STOP!” He demanded. Everyone silenced, and even Eaglestar stopped mauling Ashjaw. Squirrelstar cleared his throat. “We need to stop. Eaglestar, we can have a meeting about this. Do you want your clanmates to die over a uncivilized skirmish?” His only response was a grunt. “We‘ll talk about this by the Owl Tree. For now, let your clanmates recover. Eaglestar muttered something, and slowly sheathed and unsheathed his claws. Foxear’s face was bloody, Lizardtail had a deep gash along his ribs, and Violeteyes had a swollen shoulder. ''Eaglestar has to stop the battle, or his clanmates will ''die! ''He nodded his head. “Okay, but if you do anything sneaky, I’ll be ready.” “Same here.” Squirrelstar muttered. Eaglestar gathered his clanmates and slowly trekked outside the camp, while Windsong rushed among the Morningclan cats to check injuries. “Waterpaw!” She yowled, I jumped over to her. She was examining Brownpaw’s bleeding fore-arm. “Are you okay?” She mewed. “Yeah, should I get some cobwebs?” I asked. “No, I can do that. Can you check the cats for injuries instead?” I nodded my head and walked off. I spotted Fawnheart’s licking a gash on her back. ”Hey, Fawnheart, do you need me to fix that up?” “That would help.” She mewed in her naturally gentle voice. I gathered some horsetail from the herb storage and laid it down in front of her. “You can chew it then dab some on the wound.” I plastered some cobwebs on the cut. “Thanks, Waterpaw. I noticed that Orangeleaf was limping really bad, maybe you should check her next?” My reply was a simple tail twitch as I looked around for Orangeleaf. I saw her laying by the elder’s den, completely collapsed. “Orangeleaf!“ I rushed over to her side, her leg was slashed, and laying on a patch of blood-stained leaves. Her breathing was quick and shallow, and her eyes were closed. ''Um... What’s good for bleeding, bleeding, Horsetail! ! ''I remembered. Me and Windsong gathered some in the last frost and dried it! Pumpkinpaw was looking around, her ear was scratched, and when she saw Orangeleaf her jaws gaped. “Pumpkinpaw! Grab me some horsetail, the long green stem, quick!” I hissed. She rushed into the medicine den and came back out with a horsetail stalk. “Now smash it with your paw.” I was cleaning Orangeleaf’s cut and smeared some of the poultice on. “Okay, can you get some cobwebs? There should be some in the corner-“ She laid out her paw and some strangly threads hung onto it. “I thought you might need them.” “Thanks.“ I laid them across the cut to keep it from bleeding, and rubbed her fur the other way to keep her warm. “Can you gather some bedding, Pumpkinpaw? I would give her a proper nest but I don’t think we should move until she wakes up. She nodded and dashed off, Sparkpaw was limping towards me. “Can I help?” He meowed. “Yeah, gather some feathers and other warm things so I can make a bed for Orangeleaf.” He flicked his ears and went out into the forest. All around me, cats were wounded or helping others that were. “Good Starclan, how could you let this happen? I muttered. Windsong was gathering some cats into her den, and she spotted me. “Waterpaw! Are you okay? What happened to Orangefall?” She questioned. I shook my head, “I don’t know, but she’s cut on her hind-leg.” She took a spot beside me and sighed. “I’ll stay here, you check the other warriors.” I scampered off and pushed through the crowd of cats. Ashjaw has a nick in his ear and a was limping around. ''Please don’t say his leg‘s broken! ''I went over by his side. “Hi, Ashjaw. Can I check out your paw?” He sighed warily and stretched his pad out. I licked it gingerly. “Hm, your claw seems to be wrenched. Besides that, I think your fine.” His dark blue eyes blinked and he sniffed the injury. “Is Fawnheart okay?” He mewed, concerned. “I didn’t check her yet.” I recognized her when I was treating Orangeleaf, she was mewing worriedly about Brownpaw and Stormpaw, as all mothers would do, but she did look tired. “I don‘t think she’s hurt.“ I mewed, “But some chamomile might help if she’s dizzy from battle.” Ashjaw nodded reluctantly and walked off, careful not to step on the injured claw. ''I’ll fix that later. ''Lilybreeze and Honeybriar were sitting together, grooming their blood-sticky pelts. ''Mapletail must be with Fennelwing, since they would normally be with their brother. ''I looked up and saw Squirrelstar jump onto the highstone, he had a nasty scratch on his side. “Cats of Morningclan!” He called. It took a while for cats to start gathering around the rock, some cats were supporting others, and a few were walking with little or no scratches. “Everyone who is severly hurt.” He mewed, “Will go to see Windsong immediately, if you feel strong enough, you can help rebuild the entrance to the clearing and fetch some herbs.“ His green eyes blazed with fire. “But no matter what, Morningclan ''will ''be victorious.” Read the next book!!!